Grinch-y musings

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.You really are a heel.You’re as cuddly as a cactus, You’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch.You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel.
— from the song
“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,”
lyrics by Dr. Seuss

Some random facts and musings on the “mean one” and the man who made him.

1. The Grinch isn’t green in the 1957 book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” He’s pen and ink, with pink eyes. Red and pink, in fact, are the only colors in the book.

2. Inspiration for a green Grinch came from the great Chuck Jones, the legendary animator who created many memorable characters of his own (among them Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote) and collaborated with Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) on the classic 1966 animated TV movie. Apparently, Jones had driven several ugly green rental cars in his day and wanted to pay homage.

3. Houstonians who want to hang with the Grinch — in this case, a silent, life-size version in a furry green suit — should head to the Grinch’s lair at the Children’s Museum of Houston between 2 and 5 p.m. most days through Jan. 4. On a recent afternoon, museum librarian Kallie Benes read the “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” to a group of kids, none of whom were shy about interjecting at key moments. “He’s dressing like Santa Claus!” screamed one. “He’s gonna steal all their stuff!” screamed another. The Grinch sat on a throne next to Benes while she read and the kids stared at him. Hard.

4. The Grinch is at least 53 years old. This age makes sense because: a) the Grinch is cranky, b) the Grinch hates noise, c) the Grinch has a few wrinkles, and d) there’s a passage from the book that outs him as at least middle-aged: “And the more the Grinch thought of this Who-Christmas-Sing/ The more the Grinch thought, ‘I must stop this whole thing!/ Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now!/ I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! But HOW?”

5. Geisel’s first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was rejected 27 times before Vanguard Press agreed to publish it. Even that was a fluke. Geisel had run into an old friend on the street who’d just been hired at Vanguard. Voilà.

6. It’s hard to read the book without the animated movie soundtrack running through your head. (And it must best said — hate mail be damned — that the book is not Seuss’ best. It’s no “The Cat in the Hat” or “Horton Hears a Who!”) Plus, the animated version has Boris Karloff voicing (but not singing) the Grinch, and that unforgettable jazzy, jangly soundtrack by Albert Hague, with lyrics by Geisel. I’ll just say it. It’s better than the book.

7. Jim Carrey’s Grinch? Anyone?

8. If you ask a group of children to name their favorite part of the Grinch story, they’re most likely to say: When he brings all the presents back.
“Kids like justice,” explained Benes. “To them, right and wrong is clear cut, black and white.”
Akira Williams, 7, who heard Benes read the book at the Children’s Museum, said that’s her favorite part. She found the Grinch “funny and a little bit scary.”
Jacob Elrod, 5, another museum visitor, noted that the Grinch “was more nicer at the end.”

9. Like Scrooge, you can find Grinch in the dictionary. As a noun. The Oxford American Dictionary defines Grinch as “a spoilsport or killjoy.”

10. Remember Jo-Jo? The “very small shirker” from “Horton Hears a Who!” whose “YOPP” finally allowed
the Who voices to be heard, thereby saving their small world? In the “Grinch” book,” there’s a tricycle under the Christmas tree with a tag that reads: “For Jo-Jo.”

11. Geisel had no children of his own, though he was stepfather to the children of his second wife.

12. The Grinch’s revelation about the true meaning of Christmas is as fresh today as it was 56 years ago:“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.“Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”